


the difficulties of being a stranger

by cloudfactories



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Christmas, Drabble, Light Angst, M/M, Strangers, Taeil (slight cameo), Unrequited Crush, two strangers shopping for christmas gifts together
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-21
Updated: 2021-01-21
Packaged: 2021-03-13 02:27:41
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,836
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28895856
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cloudfactories/pseuds/cloudfactories
Summary: what johnny had expected was the blistering cold, and the piles of snows at the corners of pavements. what he had expected was the constant, ear-drilling, repetition of the same Christmas carol. what he didn't expect was the lack of taxis and a stranger to help him buy him Christmas gifts.OR: a guy off the streets and Johnny goes for Christmas shopping and Johnny falls for him in the meanwhile.
Relationships: Lee Taeyong/Suh Youngho | Johnny
Comments: 4
Kudos: 16





	the difficulties of being a stranger

**Author's Note:**

> -ah, the onslaught of Christmas fics i have at the backburner and yet to attend to. this was actually altered from the chanbaek fic i wrote three years ago and have decided to edit a whole bulk of it, to result with this. you must think i must have a hidden vendetta for christmas with how i write them but no, it's nothing like that. i only have vendettas for any kind of festivals.  
> -this will be last of any winter fic this year but i can't promise that.  
> -have fun reading! cheers!

Johnny sighed for the nth time that evenings, his legs froze for the time he had been standing there. His arms that were up for a decent amount of time felt enough so Johnny let it down by his side, giving up sadly. What Johnny had expected that evening was the cold snowy environment as the weather forecast had foretold that early morning and the white fog that curled out of his mouth every damn time. But what he didn’t expect was that he had to suffer in the horrible cold that even the multiple layers he huddled inside of, didn’t satisfy. Nor he did expect the lack of taxis, for which he had been trying to hail for the last couple of hours.

There was not one empty taxi seen on the streets to Johnny’s dismay. It was an unfortunate and a ridiculous spectacle, of which Johnny had been afraid of. Maybe he wasn’t loud enough, nor his long limbs were not visible to the taxi drivers, every civilian except him had caught at least one vehicle to land them home. Johnny felt lonely, on that Christmas Eve, time slipping through his fingers rather fast. He regretted pushing back the date of buying his friends and family some Christmas gifts. He didn’t decide to until Christmas Eve, a very bad time indeed.

But the tradition of exchanging gifts, or the responsibility of buying them was inevitable as Johnny was at least capable of earning a couple of thousands of dollars a month. Johnny was not a scrooge at any aspect, he fulfilled every promise of surprise treats requested by his fellows. But that day, Johnny was irked off his wits, his boots constantly tapping against the rough pavement, having no wish to last any longer on that road.

You say, Uber could have at least helped him. To Johnny’s hell of a luck, there was not a single car available. The traffic was also another reason, the cars would take another thousand hours to get him. Friends? Oh, they were busy gulping down pints of alcohol to give a damn and receive their phone. Family? They were also rounding their owned restaurants serving Christmas desserts. Johnny pondered a bit, judging his close ones’ situation that perhaps he was the only one without a proper excuse to busy himself.

No one except his poor self was hailing for taxis that freezing evening.

Giving up, he rummaged into the side pockets of his padded jacket, to dig out his company, a box of cigarettes. Popping out a stick from the box of Dunhill, he lit the rear and slipped it between his frozen lips. He closed his eyes, as he inhaled the strong smoke, blowing strings of greyish fumes on to the cool air.

_ Man, this is what I always wished for _ . Smoking to your heart content, hands stuffed inside your pockets, a fucking Brad Pitt capture from a movie.

For then, Johnny knew he would be only tiring his hands like that if he had stood still any longer, waving his hands only resulting in wasteful efforts. Rather, he could smoke his distressed thoughts away, taking into account of his colourful surroundings, with the obvious Christmas charm.

His eyes roamed around his surroundings, with throngs of people (mostly couples) warmed inside their padded jackets. Cashmere knits and neck folding scarves, yanking each others’ arms around to marvel about the same ol’ decorations. His eyes diverted from the attention-seeking crowd of people buying their last-minute Christmas gifts to someone right beside him. He had seen him for a while then, he seemed to be short, slouched and a little malnourished. His skin was tan enough, his eyes were as if of a puppy, hair faded to a golden honey colour. He seemed to be exceptionally highlighted in Johnny’s eyes, standing under the golden sodium street lights, illuminating the civilian to be someone remarkably unique. The sharp profile did stand out, but Johnny chose not to think about it.

_ Should he spark a conversation? Is he that desperate, yearning for words of relatable tiredness or should he be content with himself and enjoy the patronizing, hypocritical Christmas spirit? _

Johnny noticed as the person tiptoed, stretched his body or jumped a little higher to catch the attention of some taxis. Johnny could only think,  _ “Been there, done that.” _

The stranger was a little odd, with a thin flannel shirt over his white tee seemed to warm him enough for this terrifying winter. He seemed to survive, Johnny thought. Yet, a little tug at his heart told him otherwise, unconsciously trying to take off his coat to offer to the short male.

_ A stranger. Someone off the streets _ Johnny tried to convince himself with fruitless efforts,  _ someone you don’t fucking know. _

Abandoning the cigarette on the pavement and crushing it with his boots, Johnny was about to catch the attention of the odd boy. The sudden bright light blinded his eyes as his ears perked up to the sound of a loud horn. As the light slowly died down, his eyes subdued to the usual settings but it presented him his wildest imagination. There stood the taxi, and most importantly it was empty, free of passengers. It was a chance, a chance that Johnny couldn’t afford to miss.

He rushed, his eyes that stuck onto the civilian who seemed to smile, his efforts having its success. Johnny stopped still, he had no right to take over someone else's success. Even if that success meant successfully hitching a taxi ride. His coat that he slipped out of earlier hung over his arm as his shoulders drooped, his heels about to turn away from the scene.

Johnny didn’t want to make a spectacle out of mere kindness. The sentiment was enough, Johnny assured himself. Of course he knew better than to snatch 14 years old’s car and ride it uphill. 

His heartbeat took over his ears, blood rushing to his cheeks. Surprisingly, he felt warm even when his coat was holding on to his arm, and he walked bare in his cardigan. He couldn’t pinpoint the exact moment he started to feel like that, but that scene of that odd boy smiling, jumping from excitement at the sight of the black vehicle flashed before his eyes as he started to walk away, perhaps enticed something in him. Inadvertently, his lips curved across his cheeks.

Before, he could take a step further, he felt a tug from behind. Something of unknown, twisting his cardigan and pulling it back tightly.  _ Was it the person he was expecting? _

It was none other than the guy in the flannel shirt. The odd guy with fluffy auburn hair, falling upon his forehead, like he desperately needed a haircut. There was a scar that ran along his cheek to the corner of his lips. Johnny’s eye trailed to his shirt, which was thin and almost sheer as the undershirt inside was visible. Wasn’t he cold, Johnny questioned himself, clearly dumbfounded.

“You…seemed to need a taxi, sir?” he said. His tone, Johnny noticed, was warm and hard unlike how shrill and soft he looked like.

Johnny remained indifferent even though the boy in front of him pricked something inside of him quite inexplicable. Shaking his head, he tipped his chin towards the taxi waiting behind him and smiled.

“No, I don’t need so. Carry on your way, kid. But, thank you for offering.” With a wave of his hands, he tried to shoo the kid away. The boy stood still, as if he kept contemplating on something. Johnny waited for the boy to utter something, although he didn’t need to.

The boy suddenly started swinging from side to side, holding down his inner tee. His lips puckered up, as if he was pleading. A squeamish voice escaped from his lips, as if saying ‘Please’ but Johnny knew better not to get tied down by his trap.

“You are well enough on your own.” Johnny sighed, “For your sake, leave me the fuck alone. So get!”

“I was being nice, mister. Plus, It’s Christmas, you ain’t getting another taxi until the sun would begin to swim up the east and Christmas would be hovering over your head like a damn curse. You would be regretting,  _ oh shoot, why did I miss that boy? _ But, you don’t have to go through all that shit, if you just get it on. It’s just a taxi and I’m not trying to kidnap you. You are,” The boy looked him up from head to toe, “, a big guy. I might need thousands of myself to rope you up.”

Johnny pondered on that a bit, and weighed down the consequences of arriving late to his mother and meeting a dressing down rather than a Christmas gift. He was awfully tired to argue with the stranger who was inches shorter than him, but looked confident and intimidating than any other. He should give in, Johnny thought, who knew until when he would receive another offer to whoosh by him on that cold winter night?

“Yes, I will get on. Only on one condition, I’ll pay.”Johnny huffed, pulling his cardigan away from his hold, which he didn’t realize the stranger was still holding on to. It was like shackles, and he was the fugitive that would run away on foot. The _ kid _ didn’t argue further, and took the offer on the table as it was presented.

Johnny didn’t want to think like that, but the boy in front of him with worn-out flannels and maybe years old stressed jeans probably didn’t have his wallet brimming with money. He might be quick to judge the book by its cover but he was sure to stress on it. It was -5C and that boy wouldn’t forget his padded jacket home simply like that.

Taeyong’s hand slipped off his tee, as he trudged in front. Johnny followed suit, eyes hovering on his slouched back, and a tiny little hole on the flannel revealing a patch of the undershirt.

It was fortunate, that Johnny had the tolerance to face the height of the cold sticking to his skin yet when the warmth of the leather seats, the whirr of the heater embraced him, he only thought there could be nothing worse than the glimmering lights of Christmas decorations, the swarm of red and golden and the jingles resounding through the streets. He felt relieved, the difficulties of being a mere stranger rather met a rather surprising outcome.

Johnny was nudged out of his trance with a waving hand in front of his eyes. Johnny noticed the thinness of the finger that was displayed in front of him. Johnny didn’t want to go out on a limb there, but how his skin stretched over his bones showed off how the boy perhaps couldn’t fill his appetite with anything nutritious. He took it on himself to fill the latter up with delicious goodness. How did he feel about _ twigims _ ?

“Hey?”The boy beckoned, his voice soft yet wavering slightly. Perhaps, the chills finally got to him. Johnny hummed, as his eyes peered through to the peering glass only to meet slit eyes meeting him back with inexplicable intensity. As Johnny found it bizarre, his eyes soon found sanctuary on his woollen gloves, laid across his lap.

“What do you think of Christmas?”. The boy questioned, scrutinizing the blurred silhouettes of civilians laughing, tripping, trekking on the snow ploughed roads, through the condensed window of the car. The radio whistled a murmur of a dugout indie, the vocalists flaunting his scratchy vocals as his tone gave out at the held high note. Johnny couldn’t help but stare at him, instead of picking at the stray string of his gloves.

“I...Well...should I make it all “Santa exists” cheery for you, because you don’t look that old to me.”

“I am twenty-five. Speak your heart out.”

“No way.” Johnny scoffed, turning his head to look at his window. The condensed window made everyone look like blobs of red hue wandering around. 

“Yes-way. Answer what I asked you...it’s for science or whatever.”

“Christmas is the celebration for Christ’s birthday, for Santa who barely exists...not considering the pedos at shopping malls itching to get their hands on poor kids. I don’t why parents even take them there. If they could pretend to be Santa, they could as well take the kids on their lap dressed like one. I don’t know…” Johnny shrugged, “It’s fucking cold and I have lost the sanity to give your question a pragmatic, impartial answer.”

“No, it's okay…” The boy whistled through his nose, “That makes the two of us.”

“And there is that song, well many songs that sing about Christmas like its a fucking mantra. Like, give it a rest this year. We can well get into jingles, without you screeching into my ears all the time. Every fucking shop, grocery shops, departmental ones, radios and like even the roads.”

The driver pulled through the first hurdle of traffic, Johnny knew there would be more on the road coming. He might as well lounge there, in the mayhaps the warmest car (he didn’t know if it was frozen talking or not) he had ever rode on. Also, there was that 14 looking going 25 there, who would be, Johnny was expecting, a great company. 

The drivers gaped at Johnny, through the peer glass. It wasn’t subtle at all; rather Johnny could read all the wrinkle lines folding on the driver’s forehead as his eyebrows furrowed. Johnny clicked his tongue, maintaining the eye contact before the boy excused him, by pulling his sleeves yet again.

“You know, it's Christmas...the season of giving and for me, it never feels like one. It feels like a season of snatching and crying. Lots and lots of crying.”

“Are you okay?”

He rubbed at his cheeks with his shirt, before snivelling up and shook his head. 

“Can I ask for your name?”

“Taeyong.” Taeyong, then, nodded, “Yours?”

“John.” Johnny looked at Taeyong, noticing how he mouthed the name silently, “So, John, where are you headed?”

Johnny craned back to look at the slit of the glass behind and then plopped front right after, unsure what he meant to see from the back window. Johnny hummed, because he didn’t determine any specific place to be escorted to. Maybe he should buy some gifts before heading home, so he could string some excuse that he was late deciding the right gifts for the bunch of relatives coming the next day.

“Just drop me off at the bus station in Gyeondo.” Johnny added softly after, “I have nowhere to go exactly. I mean, except home where I must arrive with two hands occupied with gifts. See, it's Christmas and its life long capitalism.”

“Well, I concur. But I do not have anyone to buy gifts for or to be gifted, actually. But, don’t worry, I think it’s going to take another hour to get through there so just sit back and — you can take a nap if you want. I’ll wake up once we reach there. Right, Taeil?”

The driver in front grumbled under his breath. Johnny wasn’t sure if he agreed or was just plain annoyed. He did look a tad short-tempered, but Johnny shouldn’t make assumptions out of someone’s noise of disapproval. Or, an hour was that too long of a ride. 

Johnny noticed the driver’s profile taped on the compartment, and he made a note of the driver’s name on his head.  _ Moon Taeil. _

Some minutes went by, the surrounding had fallen into a thick line of silence. The radio was tuned low, babbling about how inches of snow had become a hindering nuisance for civilians on the holy day of Christmas Eve.  _ Would it be a white Christmas tomorrow?  _ The radio host laughed, asking their guest what he would be up to on Christmas. But Johnny could only hear the sharp exhale from his own mouth, folding in with a rumbling heater. When he looked past his shoulder, he found Taeyong’s head lolled uncomfortably against the hard seat, his eyes drooped close. His chest heaved slowly, syncing in with the rhythm of the notes sung by the man on the radio. Johnny counted the time left on the watch, and it was still not enough for his yearning to stay there for a little longer.

It was subtle, how Johnny pulled one corner of the flannel shirt causing Taeyong’s to loosely fall on his side, and sidled up to Johnny’s puffed up jacket. Taeyong’s nails clawed on the material, sleepily as his lips puckered, letting out whimpers. Taeyong’s hair tickled the crevice of his neck, his hair a bad dye-job but Johnny didn’t care. There were still more than 30 minutes left on the ride.

“He is a bit on the naive side...he takes the kindness of strangers to the hill.”

Johnny’s ears perked up at the sudden tone of the driver slicing through the silence. 

“If anything, he was being kind to me.” Johnny chuckled, “Don’t know where I would have been without this ride.”

“No…” Taeil pierced his eyes through the peering glass, “You were kind to him too.”

Johnny nodded because he didn't want to converse any longer than he had to. He wasn’t the type to mingle with the driver on endless small-talks that never seem to go anywhere. It seemed Taeyong had peacefully drifted off to dreamland, often rubbing his head on Johnny’s shoulders like a Cheshire. Johnny’s hand remained lifted off grounds, hovering over the small of his back, contemplating whether he should wound his arm around. There was a sharp exhale, the palm met the stressed fabric of Taeyong’s flannel and all he could hear were the irking guffaws of the radio hosts on the radio. It wasn’t allowed, they said, that level of intimacy. 

_ “Are you even allowed to do those on first dates, anymore?” Doyoung, the main host, laughed, “For me, kiss on both cheeks, then I go back to my car and check one name off from my mother’s bucket list of women.” _

_ “Isn’t that demeaning? You should learn to be respectful on first dates, Mr.Kim. The world doesn’t revolve around you.” The other girl on the radio whistled, “See, all of you, this is exactly how you shouldn’t treat a woman on first dates.” _

Johnny slipped his arm away from Taeyong's back and kept his fingers curled on the hem of his shirt. The street lights became familiar as they wheeled further down the road, and Johnny couldn’t take his eyes off the piled up snow on the side of the streets. Taeyong’s head was heavy against his shoulders and Johnny tipped his shoulder up a bit, so that he could relax under his weight. Taeyong fell on his chest, and Johnny wrapped the coat he had been holding on to, over Taeyong’s curled up figure and tucked him in. Only five minutes left, and that ride would be over.

The radio was twisted off and Taeil looked at him through the glass. He hummed, tight-lipped, as geared the car towards the right alley.

“I suppose you are stopping at the first bus station, right?” The driver asked, tone blank. 

“Hm. There is a departmental right opposite of the Olive Young, so you can drop me off there. How much did this ride cost me?” Johnny ransacked the innards of his coat pockets for notes, as Taeil showed him off the meter. It was around 70,000 won and Johnny took a sigh of relief that he had 100,000 cash with him.

He scrunched up the notes in his fist and passed it when the car screeched halt in front of the departmental store. Taeil thanked him before inkling his head towards Taeyong, who had his head tilted upon Johnny’s padded chest, and Johnny nodded in reciprocation. He lightly shook Taeyong on his shoulder and whispered that he reached his destination.

“Hey, wake up.” Johnny bit his lower lips, before saying, “ _ We _ are here.”

Taeyong whimpered under his ragged breath, his hair sticking up in all directions as he picked himself up from his chest. 

“I’m sorry.” Taeyong apologized for lying on his chest, and then sighed, “I think you go from here right?”

“No, I wanted you to do me a small favour. Come with me to the shop...I have to buy gifts for my relatives and I have no idea or creativity whatsoever for the art of gifting. So, um...help a gentleman out?”

“Sure…”He wrestled himself off the coat that was worn on him, and lent it back with a grimace, “Thanks but I’m not cold though.”

“Okay.” Johnny bunched up the coat under his arms in evident chagrin but decided not to stress it much. Taeyong followed Johnny out of the car, and trudged for the automatic entrance of the departmental store. It was a simple, small-scaled E-Mart, with only two floors. The yellow LED light pained Johnny eyes, as he maneuvered himself inside, equipping a discolored trolley. Taeyong dragged himself behind, almost blinded from everyone’s eyes with Johnny’s broad silhouette. He continued to scrutinize the lychee drinks, eager to buy one for himself, and although notices Taeyong’s zeroed eyes on the plastic bottles, he proceeded to ignore them. Although before exiting the aisle, he picked two lychee bottles and rolled them in his trolley.

“Whom for?” Taeyong asked gingerly, as it almost missed Johnny’s ear.

“Someone with a kid’s tasting palate.”

“Oh. You have kids?” Only then, Taeyong tried to match Johnny steps in front, with his eyes downcasted on his worn-out sneakers. 

“No.” Johnny scoffed, “I can’t even imagine myself with kids. Of course, I like them but I am only 26. Kids are a commitment and I don’t think I’m ready to take such a responsibility, you know?”

“Hm. Sure.” Taeyong mulled over his next words, “What part of a supermall do you like most? Believe it or not, I took Consumer Psychology in college and we learned why stores place the products as they do.”

“Probably, snacks section.” Johnny's eyes clutched onto a discoun ted bunch of toilet rolls, and decided to give it to his uncle. He hauled it up and bunched it in his trolley.

“I love the produce section, also the part where they knife up the fish. I mean, can’t miss something entertaining in a place so mundane.”

Johnny looked at him strangely, and perked up one corner of his lips in amusement, “Doesn’t the cold ever bother you.? I don’t know why but it always makes me visit the can in a hurry. You know, because it is so chilly.”

“The cold never bothered me.”

“Okay…” Johny chuckled, “Ms. Elsa, how can I be to your service?”

“Please…”Taeyong brought his hand up to his chest and replied with the same sentiment, “The floor of my ice castle needs cleaning. If you could…”But before he could continue, he petered into laughter. 

“Accompany me to the Interior section. There ought to b e something catering to my mother’s picky preferences.”

“How is she?”

“Nagging...sometimes whiny. But someone with a good heart and lots of patience...after all she raised me. I love her, that's why, “Johnny made a curve with his trolley and made his way towards the section with various paraphernalia on sale, “...I’m here. I know exactly what to get her.” 

“See I didn’t even need to elaborate anything.” Taeyong shook his shoulders nonchalantly, “You are good off your own.”

“I just remembered what she likes.” Johnny turned around and hollered, “Disney princesses. I saw a princess journal there and probably, she will like it. She was delighted last time I bought her tickets.”

Johnny stopped on his tracks once he saw Taeyong taken by a red scarf wounded around a mannequin. His hands loose by his sides, as he judged the mannequin from top toe, biting his lips as his eyes danced around the knit, the folds and the ironed hems. Johnny called out for him, and he could see how Taeyong almost broke...his reticence, the smile that shaped into a soft frown while the light dimmed from his face. Johnny made a note of it, as he reckoned that they should check the miscellaneous section. Taeyong followed suit. 

After they had stuffed Johnny’s trolley, with Taeyong’s recommendation of princess items and Johnny ‘s too, the sleeves left none for the twelve year that might visit the next day. The clock ticked 11 and it was an hour to 12. Johnny deemed it would be better to hurry. 

“Taeyong, can you come here for a sec?” Johnny rushed to the mannequin from prior, and Taeyong picked his pace up and stopped in front of it. Johnny slipped the scarf from the mannequin’s neck, and wrapped it around Taeyong’s neck. He could see Taeyong melting in the woolen material, his shoulders waking up.

“Is it nice? The scarf?”

“Yeah, it's really cozy.”

“I’m thinking of buying this for a day. He would like a good ol’ scarf, I guess.” Johnny laughed but the smile from Taeyong’s face lifted off. His hands left the scarf as he pulled it from around his neck, his lips taut. He pushed it inside the cart and moved on towards the cashier. Johnny could see how ticked off he was, but he had another intention for taking his scarf away.

Johnny paid for the gifts he bought and asked the cashier to pack them in a pretty bag. The cashier couldn’t care less about his suggestion and packed it in the simple grocery bags everyone received. Johnny sulked with a hum but took it anyway. 

Taeyong beelined to the front , and from the glass, Johnny noticed the cab from earlier still waiting for Taeyong. Johnny paused on his steps behind, and stared at taeyong’s moving back, eventually reaching the end of the lobby and only a second away from opening the door and disappearing for God knows how long. Johnny had his fist curled by his side in hesitation, biting his lips, contemplating how he should call out to him so that he would look back. He didn’t realize Taeyong’s name was more than enough.

“Taeyong.”

Taeyong looked over his shoulder, with shivering lips and sullen eyes. 

Johnny didn’t say anything and only rummaged through his nags, to grab the red scarf out and hold it out to him. 

“It’s for you…”Johnny said, rubbing the soft knit inside his tightened grip, “...I-I assumed you wouldn’t like me to buy it for you since earlier you rejected my coat. You know, you might be thinking I might be pitying you. And you are right. I did. I do. But this...I bought it already and I think that it will look great on you.”

Taeyong sighed and turned his face in front. Johnny saw Taeyong waving from behind the glass, showing off his spread hands, signaling to the driver that it might take another five minutes. He twisted on his heels, and took small steps towards Johnny, with his face crown to nothing but a timid smile. Stretching out his hand, Taeyong took the scarf in his hold and adored the bright carmine hue under his inspection. Without giving it another thought, he brought the scarf to his cheeks, and kneaded it against his skin. Only then, a fine smile had appeared across his lips.

“You like it?”

Taeyong nodded. 

“I also have another thing for you.” His hand went back inside the bag, and within toilet rolls and princess trinkets, he fished out the lychee juice from earlier, “2 for 1 deal.”

“Thanks. I will enjoy this on the ride back home.” The horns from the taxi only resounded louder and Johnny tip-toed to scrutinise the commotion with frowned eyebrows. Taeyong only chuckled and said, 

“Taeil is very impatient so I must go back.”

Johnny looked back down at him, towering the latter’s petite height with his own intimidating meters. He wanted to touch him, wrap the scarf around his neck and kiss him goodbye. But at the end of the day, what remained in between them was unfamiliarity, on the account that they were indeed strangers to each other. No scarf, or boxes of lychee juices could build the rapport of friendship in matter of hours. 

“Yeah, you do that. I’ll be on my way soon.” Johnny smiled tightly. Taeyong reciprocated that with a bow and the childish smile returned on his face that made him seem no older than a teenager. His horribly dyed hair bounced in the air, as he jogged his way to the exit. 

Before Taeyong exited through the door and never to be seen again, he twirled back and fervently waved with the hand holding on the bottle of lychee juice. He hollered for only Johnny to hear, 

“I owe you one, kind stranger!”


End file.
